


the butterfly effect

by LunaDelta



Category: Original Work
Genre: Asphyxiation, Backstory, Blood Magic, Blood and Injury, Carmen Does Her Best, Character Death, Eventual Happy Ending, Female Protagonist, Freeform, Half of this has been read over, Hallucinations, Heavy Angst, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm Bad At Tagging, Isolation, Magic-Users, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Original Fiction, Other, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Probably More I can't Tag for, Recovery, Whumptober 2019, the other half? not so much, what's editing?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-30
Updated: 2019-10-30
Packaged: 2021-01-13 00:54:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 6,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21235445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaDelta/pseuds/LunaDelta
Summary: a fresh twenty five, carmen kavrina finally attempts to come home to the city of voxaint to let her mother knew the status of her teaching position of gauthefaul academy. having avoided coming home in the last six years, she thinks the incidents of the past are far behind her and she let them go.that is, until she realizes just how tightly it grips her still(Whumptober 2019, I rearranged the writing bits to flow more coherently. It'll only go about 29 actual chapters give or take. Posted here just o be easier to read.)





	1. Prompt Order

**CHAPTER INDEX**

  1. Shaky Hands
  2. Explosion
  3. Delirium
  4. Human Shield
  5. Gun point (sword point for this prompt)
  6. Dragged Away
  7. Isolation
  8. Hallucination
  9. Shackles
  10. “Don’t Move”
  11. Abandoned
  12. Pinned Down
  13. Asphyxiation
  14. Beaten
  15. Humiliation
  16. Adrenaline
  17. Secret Injury
  18. Unconscious
  19. Tear Stained
  20. “Stay with me”
  21. Bleeding out
  22. Muffled Scream
  23. Trembling
  24. Stab Wound
  25. Stitches
  26. Numb
  27. Scars
  28. Recovery
  29. Embrace


	2. Shaky Hands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> and so the past rose to the surface like bile in the back of her throat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Warning: mention briefly of defecation.  
Intense PTSD flashback begins.

She could feel the cold autumn wind brushing against her face, the sting causing her cheeks to flush. Carmen Kavrina never was a fan of the colder seasons, and truth be told her rant against it would go on forever if someone was to ask. Thankfully, people never did, just like they never dug that deep as to why she hated the rain.

Her steps on the stone walkway of the city echoed with the silence that loomed. Curfew was placed, and the only ones really out anymore were militia enforcers, or those coming in from long times of travel. Even they had to have an escort though, and despite being a part of the family that made such a decision, not even Kavrina was exempt from the rule. Carmen wasn't even gone a year since the incident, and all she could remember was the taste of blood and ash, the smell of burnt everything, the burn of her eyes and how damp everything was despite a raging fire. Despite the rain washing so much of the sin down sewer drains, the people would still swear that the stains would forever linger on the very grounds they walked.

The old Kavrina estate was burnt to the ground, and even just smelling the air, it all came rushing back to her. The echoes and cries carried on the midnight breeze like the ghosts of the past and the pathway lanterns fluttered out on the walkway. Abyssal blue eyes went wild and wide as she jerked her head to the left and to the right, her pace now to a dead stop. "Ser, how much further off are we from my parents estate?" She asked, looking back to the man in front of her. 

His once iron and shiny armor suddenly looked so much more tarnished then Carmen thought it was. Rusted, black chainmail seemed to take its place with wine red and tattered cloak draped over it. The symbol on it made everything freeze, and she nearly felt her legs give out from under her. She didn't understand.

Where the ruins of the old estate should be, progressively being cleared, it now stood tall in it's former grandiose stature. Delicate and beautiful archways, a marble one with a beautiful white gate stood at the very front with freshly planted blue-bells for next spring, roses with their petals rotting off and returning to the earth. Trees of golden yellows, and even richer amber colors, the sound of them crunching ever so softly and children laughing.

It looked perfect.

But the first smell she could catch wasn't the damp grass, or anything of pumpkin or cinnamon. 

It was iron and defecation, and Carmen Kavrina felt her hands shake as she realized what she was about to experience. What about about to happen... and she couldn't get them to stop.


	3. Explosion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the explosion rocked the very foundation of everything, and with it, came a new sort of hell.

She was running to the front gates, struggling to throw them open as Carmen glanced to where she saw the man in black and red. The night had shifted into a falling sunset. People scrambling, and a sword cutting down a man like a knife sliding through lukewarm butter. The arterial spurting was horrifying,  _ and why couldn't her hands stop shaking? _ Snapping her head back to the gate, the suitcase she was carrying fell and turned into a brown paper bag as vegetables rolled out of the spilled bag.

The children playing outside were her cousins, and Carmen immediately yelled and hollered at them to go inside the estate.

"Oceane! Vanessa! Get back inside!" Carmen screamed. Her voice cracked as she grabbed the youngest girl by her brown curls and velvet red dress and hoisted her up. Oceane was the oldest, and during any normal day the shrill whine of her voice would of made Carmen want to toss the child into some sort of well.

Carmen's hair fell messily from its bun the more she ran, and after tossing the children to the maids her next quickest stop would be her mother's study. Surely the woman would know what to do, she was this place's leader. She was the one the world spun around, or so Carmen was raised to believe. The Voxins were normally so  _ boring  _ for outsiders - why couldn't it stay that way?

Her mother was the head of the food chain here in Voxaint. She knew the ins and outs better than anyone else. It was matriarchal, and while the matriarchs weren't always the nicest, they always tried and meant to strive for the best for their people. Why didn't Angela see this coming? Had they all done something wrong, because they had followed every rule to the very letter Angela had declared... So why now? 

While Carmen knew who these men were and what they stood for now, she hadn't before. In the back of her head, her mind was counting and reciting the rules like a twisted chant, a sick hymn that filled her stomach with acid. The hallways were layered in paintings off the family, Angela's office being at the very end of it with Carmen's grandmother's face staring down at all those who entered. Even in death, the cold judgement filled the halls.

If she was trying to fool herself, Carmen could of sworn the painting had a look of fear to it as she slammed open mahogany doors to see her frantic mother scrambling with her father and brothers to pack as many important documents and books away . Just like always, something tipped the woman off. 

"What are you waiting for?!" Her voice boomed. "Help pack! We don't have much time!" Angela hissed, hard grey eyes staring angry holes into Carmen before shoving another piece of paper away in her father's bag.

"Matron Angela, who are those people?" Carmen did as she was told as she shoved paper after paper into her closest brother's bag. Birth records and death records of the most famous empirical rulers across the land, with brief mentions of successors and those before them. Carmen barely considered this important.

Her mother didn't respond before there was a deafening noise. A buzzing noise scorched through Carmen's ears as she hit the ground. Carmen's senses were disoriented, and small bits of rubble coated the room. The magic felt like it was filling the entire estate from the assault before someone screamed. The front door had been blasted open, and Carmen watched as her older brother's were rushing out the office door, weapons in hand as evacuation began. 

When she came to, one of her brothers was shaking her senseless, her father wielding a sword nearly greater than his body.

She was being asked to fight, and the explosion was only the beginning of the nightmare


	4. Delirium

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Cowards,' Carmen thought, knowing most of them were. 'Why isn't the rest of the family standing here to fight?'

It was official, out of all her siblings, Carmen absolutely sucked the most at anything that was deemed to be fighting. Her only saving grace was an acute knowledge of the occult, and the rare force of slamming a whip into someone's body. The latter was commonly a disgruntled factor of why Carmen was tasked with handling punishments after the judgement had been cast. The next few days of reclaiming Voxaint from rebels was why she became even remotely better when it came down to athletics and shear strength. 

Tonight, however, Carmen found out just how good her state of mind could defend against that of delirium and the illusions a person could cast against hallowed halls. She was, and maybe still was capable of deciding between that of fiction and truth but expert levels of detective thinking... Or so she told herself. 

In reality, maybe she was just lucky. No, she was definitely lucky. Just like how Sawyer was, or her father when it came to walking through the crumbling walls, ignoring the fake sensation of being burnt when crossing the fire's thresholds. While everything felt real, they had to tell themselves it wasn't. 

Somewhere deep in her gut, she always thought maybe they were real. Maybe despite all they went through, after the magical explosion they assumed everything else was with it, and they foolhardy behavior barely kept them above water.

She could smell burning chemicals and taste the ash in the air as they made it out fine from the house, most of the women and children having taken a small trap door that lead them far from Voxaint. 'Cowards,' Carmen thought, knowing most of them were. 'Why isn't the rest of the family standing here to fight?' 

Some of them would come back after ensuring others were safely put with their mothers, fathers, aunts, or uncles. Others would be caught, and the mind games would begin.

Carmen still didn't know who these people were, and Sawyer or her dad didn't feel like now was the time to tell her. Sawyer was older then Carmen by two years, and she never once questioned him. They were as thick as thieves, and always would be.

She trusted them both, and kept her mouth shut.

  
  



	5. Human Shield

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a desperate cry and fright, maybe silence was the answer.

It was chaos. The magic was potent in the air, she could smell the burning of wood and chemicals as screams filled the town. This was carnage, and Carmen couldn't find the courage to even speak. Her father had that covered for her. 

She didn't know her father's first name - he never made it necessary. It was always dad, father, papa, or grandpa. Even the Matron, her mother, followed the lead of the family for once and always called him by a familiar term. He was a tall man, with a bald head Carmen could swear made men go blind when it was hit just right in the sunlight. His eyes look like a void tinted in blue, fierce and stern. Father was amazing, and in times of conflict he took over where her mother was deemed unfit to. His voice bellowed. "Sawyer! Keep your sister safe! The Matron will be meeting us at the Grand Retribution Library. For now, we cut their numbers." Father said, already into the fray.

Carmen could see Sawyer’s nervousness in the way his hand twitched before tightening as he held her shoulders. Sweat seeped into her silk blouse as he spun her around to look at her. They didn't have long. "Listen to me, Carmen. Whatever happens, you need to follow my words exactly, okay? If I say run, you run. If I say stay, you have to stay." She always listened to all her brothers and sisters. They were close, and they never lead each other astray. But While Sawyer tried to sound demanding, his voice betrayed him with freight. 

It took her a moment to find her voice,"I'll do what.. what you say... Sawyer, what is going on?" she gripped at his arm as he began to pull away. "Sawyer! Tell me!"

"They're called the -" He spoke quickly but part of what he was saying was drowned out by the things around them. What did he say? He frantically surveyed the battlefield, trying to decipher friend from foe, but the blood they all seemed to be bathed in made it nearly impossible. He never thought trying to spot a civilian from a murderer would be so difficult. "They're radicals, tired of Kavrina law and behavior. Families the Matron destroyed because of them trying to air out our secrets. Some of them are more than that, they want to have the church investigate us for.." Sawyer trailed, like he couldn't say it at all. He didn't have to, because the next time he was about to open his mouth, Carmen squeezed his arm hard enough her nails dug into flesh.

"Sawyer! We have to go! Over there!" As Sawyer turned to follow Carmen’s eyes and just what she was trying to point out to him, he turned as pale as a ghost.

A group of people in the black chainmail was rushing over and father was too far ahead to be called for. He would end up lost in the swarm of people trying desperately to leave the town square. Carmen took a step back as she saw the pikes that stood tall in one of the soldier’s hands. 

One of the men grabbed her from behind. Their talk and wasting time just standing there was going to cost them in the end, and it was only now Carmen really wished she had kept her mouth shut. She could learn more about them at another time, and now wasn't it. She was almost thankful Sawyer was the wiser and more sturdy one of her brothers. He was one of the few on the family who actually knew magic better than anyone, and for better or worse he could blast them at least a few feet back...

If they weren’t using one of his baby sisters as a human meat shield.


	6. Swordpoint (Gunpoint)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the sky was licked by flames, and from it came clouds of gray and ash.

She could feel the steel of the blade leave a trickle of blood as it gut through the fabric of her scarf, pale blue and white butterflies turning pink in small splotches. Matron would be furious.

Carmen wanted to cry.

Sawyer was screaming, but she couldn't make out the words. Her breathing was harsh and quick and her face got redder and redder. She let out a scream for him, she knew she had to of. 

Her voice was hoarse. The sky looked like it was burning.


	7. Dragged Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the world fell away into uncertainty, and with it came darkness on the horizon.

Her heels had fallen off at some point far back as she watched Sawyer take on the men that surrounded him. He was trained to kill, in case peace never did last. "We want the girls of Kavrina alive," the man dragged her called, "do what you want with the men! Just make sure they aren't a problem for us." His voice felt like nails against a chalkboard, and Carmen wanted to rip off her own ears as he kept talking. She was kicking, squirming, maybe she should have paid attention to the physical education classes at the academy. Maybe she should have paid attention to her Father's lessons.  _ Anyone's _ . 

Carmen was throwing all her weight to the ground, trying her best to make it more difficult for the man, but her efforts were for nothing.. . He was made for this while her lanky arms weren't. With a shift he twisted her entire arm against her back. She hadn't felt this sort of pain since the academy, and Carmen tried desperately to remember what she had done before to escape it. There was a way to break free from this, and her brain was rushing faster then she could analyze, but the real world would not wait. An agonizing scream erupted from her as the sudden snap of her arm left her reeling. Her screams fell on death ears as the man hoisted her up and into the back of a cart and the impact left her breathless. 

Try and breath - work through the pain. It was the only thing she could do.. Tears streamed down her face and, if she didn’t know better, the intense throbbing throughout her body almost felt like dying. It wasn't working. Blearily, she looked around her. The maid was with her, and she was holding Vanessa and Oceane. Did the Matron not take them with her? How stupid did she have to be?

Who even left the kids outside if they knew something wrong was going on? Had she just used them as a distraction? 

Most likely.

Oceane was crying so hard she was having trouble breathing. Her body was rocking, and Vanessa had a look of terror and sorrow in her eyes so deep one could forget she was still only a child. Carmen had to think of something to get these kids away from here. Out of all of this. She was focusing more now - she had been dragged at least three miles away from the estate, and she could no longer see her brother. They were downtown, and it was quiet minus the men in chainmail clinking towards them as they dragged struggling family members of Kavrina. Only the women, though. Her stomach dropped thinking of what would happen to the rest of the family. 

"Get the fuckin' kid to shut up." The man who sounded like a scratched chalkboard snapped, hitting the butt of his sword into the wooden carriage. The maid clutched the child tighter. The other men tossed an aunt of Carmen's into the wagon bound and gagged. another tossed a sniveling child towards Carmen.

Carmen wished she paid attention to the helps’ names. She wished she could offer them some sort of confidence. The only solace she could think of was that this might end soon, whether in freedom or in death, but that was still only a cold comfort. Even if she survived this the death of many would forever weigh on her shoulders. Carmen kept her mouth shut and gave the woman a wary glance and noticed her pale grey hair. It had blotchy spots of dried blood on the top. Oh.

"Oceane," the gray haired woman began, her voice soft. "Shh, darling, it'll be okay.. shh.. Just do as they said." Her voice sounded like grandma's, the former Matron. it made Carmen's chest tighten and ache. The tears were rolling down Carmen's own cheeks as she held the child who was just tossed to her closely. This was her niece, wasn't it? Vixie?

This family was so big, part of her wondered if they were about to be culled entirely. Kill off the older women, and all the men, and what are you left? A shell of the former family that used to hold themselves above the others. A broken piece of a greater puzzle. If these men wanted the Library, she'd let them have it, personally. She had a spare key to the upper floors, but something told her if they wanted in, they would of just blasted the doors open. 

So what did they want?


	8. Isolation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the start of solitude, though not of choice.

When the wagon lurched forward, Carmen didn't have anything to hold on to minus trying to lean against the very back of the wagon. She considered jumping out, as did a lot of them did, but with the archers walking along the side of the wagon, there was no real hope. Not to mention with an arm quite literally broken, what was she to do now?

Think. She had to think. Where could they possibly take her? They were moving west. The Kavrina estate was south east, and they'd eventually move through downtown to the western mountain path. The cave system lead right under the Library.

The cave system was where they kept their prisoners. It was cold and enveloped in nearly pitch black darkness. A rather cruel environment most would agree on. While inside the cell, it was spelled silent so you couldn't hear those outside it. It played tricks on your mind, sometimes feeling much more tiny and tight spaced then it actually was. There was a bucket, somewhere in there, but who knew where. You had to be careful. Many men and women alike ended up going crazy from such a space, when you think your minutes are hours, and hours are days. They normally kept prisoners in there for forty-eight hours, and she could only assume what they were going to do to them. The very center of the mine was kept secret - locked away under the doors and vaults sealed with blood and dark magic. 

The main family branch was the only one that could open it. 

Carmen was the only one in this cart that could open it. Carmen, Sawyer, Blaine, Matron, and Father. None of the kids were allowed to do it under they were teenagers, and even then, Sawyer had married outside the allowed perimeters. The Matron was suppose to have taken him off the doors seals and wipe his blood clean from it. He not only was dealt a severe punishment but was to be cut from the entire family main branch. It'd be just Carmen and Blaine soon. 

After reaching the mine they all followed eachother out of the cart. Others were lined up, the men tied up, bloody and beaten. She didn't see the Matron, nor did she see Sawyer. She hoped for the best. She hoped, above all, maybe they found more help. Alexander was supposed to come home soon, wasn't he? Alexander the Stupid.Alexander the Mindlessly Brave and Stupid Fool. 

The throbbing in her arm didn't let up, but she tried to think in between being shoved into line with other women. Another aunt, this time by marriage was pushed into the line. No one knew who was apart of the main branch. It wasn't like they kept family lineages with such important information anyway. It was probably for this exact reason, but what did she know? She was just eighteen.

As they descended down the mine, she could feel Vixie clutch onto the back of her shirt. The walk was tedious and uneven, tripping over herself and her heels landing accidentally on rocks that weren't settled into the earth. It was progressively darker, the light of the entrance way fading away to the point where the torches and lanterns were the only thing they could use to see. "Keep close to me," Carmen whispered to Vixie. Squeezing her hand tight as she reached behind herself with her only good arm. she eyed the guards in front of her. They stopped abruptly and it was then that she realized she was at the front of the line for what was about to transpire. 

They yanked open a wooden door to a hole in the wall room. "Get in." The soft crying of other females could be heard around her. Carmen bit her lip as she did what she was told.she felt them rip Vixie from clinging to her shirt. "Alone, you dumb brat." The man snapped, grabbing the child by the hair and shaking her.

"L-Let me go!!! Carmen! Carmen, help!" The little girl cried, and immediately Carmen did her best to rush back. A solid closeline to her neck stopped her, and she fell to the ground breathless. She was still desperately trying to crawl towards Vixie, wheezing.

"I'm coming, Vi-Vixie! Just hold on!" She growled out, only to be hoisted up and tossed into the cell despite the screaming and pleading of Vixie. It went horrifically quiet the moment that wooden door slammed shut with a thud.

Just like that, she was all alone.


	9. Hallucinations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the mind plays tricks when left to itself.

Maybe magic sped it up, or maybe Carmen naturally had such a weak constitution and was already in so much pain, but she could hear something. She shouldn't of been hearing anything. Her hands dug into the dirt and stone sidings of the room, trying to grasp any sort of reality of what was around her. She was in the mine, and it was cold, damp, and rough. The noise came a bit louder now, though never yelling. 

It was Alexander the Stupid's voice. Alexander was never the brightest man in the shed, despite being a Voxin. Carmen had known him all throughout the academy, and instead of being a scholar he decided to be a guard for Voxaint. He just had extra training to do. He was fine. He had to be!

'But what if he's not?' The thought sent a chill down her spine as she rubbed her head.. or tried to, anyway. Her arm's throbbing was becoming insistent, and she wondered if something was just chewing it off to the bone. If she kept distracting herself, maybe everything would be okay.

But it wasn't. Nothing was okay, and Carmen knew it. Everything was getting fuzzy, and she felt like the bottom was falling out of her. The tingle was running up her arm like bugs scurrying to get inside; Carmen jumped to her feet to try and shake them off, to go back to thinking.

Alexander the Stupid was as strong as a bull, and Carmen could swear he was nearly as strong as her own father. It was something very few could ever actually achieve from her experience unless you lived in the Wildlands. He was technically suppose to be home a fortnight ago. What if something had stopped him on his way? What if the radicals had hit him first, before the rest of them? If he tried to save them, and he was stuck on a pike in different pieces. 

Desecrated and destroyed.

Carmen couldn’t bare the thought of it, but it just kept going back to the same fear… Eventually though, it was no longer her darling friend and her fear of losing him, but just what they were doing to Sawyer and her father. Had they made it out alright? Were they now fighting them off inside Retribution Library?

She felt the darkness taking a shape, and instead of looking around her, or tuning into how it felt, she dropped to the ground and pulled her knees to her chest. Burying her head in her lap, she shut her eyes tightly. She just had to pretend she was sleeping, or just go to actual sleep. Things would get better. 

Maybe it would stop being so noisy and quiet, all at the same time.

What was happening to her? She had been having these thoughts steadily for what felt like forever. What felt like hours that never ended, she was never quite sure if she was asleep or not. If it was a nightmare, or not. 

She couldn’t even remember what she was dreaming about, if she paused to dream. Sometimes, Carmen would think the door was open and she was eating. But she felt sick soon after without fail every time after that. She couldn’t move in the mine cell without throwing up, and Carmen never saw a bucket in here when they tossed her in.

The smell made her sicker.


	10. Shackled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the bonds of man

The faintest smell of tobacco found its way through the door, and her eyes struggled to adjust to the dim light of the lantern held in front of her. “Time to go, brat.” It was that scratchy chalkboard voice again, but this time he looked clean shaven. Had he always been that way?

He handed off the lantern to his partner who stood next to him, trading him for the silver chains the other man held in his hands. Shackles wrapped around her ankles, brown and dried to a near black from being in the mines. Her pale skin had been coated in dust.

“Shit, she looks like a mangy dog.”

“She probably doesn’t even remember us feeding her half the time, with what we’ve been slipping into her drink.” Chalkboard replied, spitting somewhere near the woman. “Fuck, it’ll be over soon anyhow. Get her fuckin’ moving.” He tossed Carmen by her bad arm towards the other Radical that had his helmet still on. Blood dried on the former shine of the sword in her holster, and Carmen could only stagger along with him. 

What else could she of actually done?


	11. "Don't Move."

She staggered down the mine path, being dragged behind the man by the shackles behind her. She couldn’t even be bothered anymore to try and fight back, not right now. Carmen was exhausted, and if she could ever see the light again who knew what she would do. Sleep, maybe? 

Hope this entire nightmare faded away with the rest of her life?

She accidentally slammed into the man’s back,bouncing backwards with the additional force of an elbow to her stomach. Falling to the ground, she looked around lost and groaning softly. 

“Get the fuck back up, and don’t move, you dumb bitch. You’re going to listen to what I say, got it?”

Carmen nodded her head immediately. There was no point in arguing or even trying to say no. Maybe if she just agreed to everything they said, they’d let her family and her go. It was worth a shot, right? 

The room they were in was brighter, now that Carmen could see it better. Instead of lanterns, they were more open, with blue fire flickering out of them and ancient carvings all the same on each. The walls were smoother, precisely cut stone, and even the floor felt better to walk on then the previous surface of the mine. 

They were in front of the center of the mine, the vault doors larger than life itself. Blood was dried, so she knew they were just desperately trying to open the door. The secret within it was practically calling to these fools, and they figured out the key to get inside. 

Her.


	12. Abandoned

No one was left. No one she thought of. The other prison doors were wide open when she looked behind her. Did they escape? Were they still in there? The darkness was swallowing her whole as she tried to breath, but the breaths were coming in rapid and short. Her head was feeling dizzy. 

_ Itwasn’trealitwasn’trealitwasn’trealitwasn’treal _

Sawyer wasn’t coming. 

Matron abandoned her.

So did Father.

Everyone was gone. Maybe she could go too, it would only be fair. She couldn’t die here, she had things she needed to do. She promised herself she’d start teaching in another two years, be one of the best in her field. She knew she could. 

The Radical wasn’t looking at her. “Ya know, if we had just know people with them butterflies on their back were the key to this stupid door, maybe we coulda done this quiet. But our source told us too late… you have to understand, lady.” He sighed. “None of us wanted to do this, now,” Carmen’s eyes landed on a nearby pickaxe.The Radical had let go of her chain for the time being.

She wasn’t going to die here.

“-if the old broad just treat us fairly, and let other people share in the power she got, it would of been fine, ya know? I was apart of this family too, but I got cut out-” 

Carmen Kavrina wasn’t going to die here, or fucking anywhere.

“Honestly, my mom shoulda listened to her, I know, but that pure-blood Voxin nonsense is silly when it comes to working in the library’s lower levels with all the important history, you know? I mean, I’m sure it couldn’t be any easier for you. You’re the lady’s daughter, so you should be happy to do this. All those expectations being the next one in line? Pah.”

“Are you done yet?” 

“...Huh?” He turned around, ritual knife out with a nearby bucket in front of him. He was sharpening the knife. The Radical fell back as the pickaxe pierced the metal right into his nose, and there wasn’t even a scream. It was almost like the bottom of him fell out, and he was passing out from pure shock of it all. He’d probably end up drowning in his own blood before the rest of them were ever dealt with.

Just like that, all the illusions fell and Carmen could hear her family crying and swearing and ** _screaming_ ** behind cell doors. They were there. There were guards stationed out doors, and she could see the men just being tossed into one singular cell. It would most likely be jammed pack. 

She wasn’t abandoned in the slightest, but she almost abandoned them. 

Trying to tug and rip the pickax from the man’s head, she couldn’t pull it with just one arm. There was no way in hell she’d be able to. Even if she just held the head with her foot and tried to pry it out, it was ending up more like a crowbar. The sounds were disgusting and squelching noises. She had to pull it out straight but she needed two hands to do that… Which meant she most likely wouldn’t be able to. 

Carmen couldn’t handle the sound, and she didn’t have much time. If she found the Matron, or at least Sawyer and her Father, she could save everyone. Taking the knife, she huffed. There was only one proper way to actually slice a hand open to ensure you not only didn’t bleed profusely, damage anything, but to prevent infection. That was the meat of your hand when you made a fist, right under your pinky. Taking the knife and slicing the meat of her hand, she wiped her blood that slowly began to pool against the door. Making the symbol of a circle, a line through the middle and two dots on the top, there was silence.

She waited for the loud rumble, the tearing roar of the door that would shake the city to its very core. Some sort of devious illuminating light that would be blinding. Unimaginable… but there was nothing.

The door just popped open, and there wasn’t a sound to be heard. Just a tiny click, and it was cracked open to be pulled all the way. 

How anticlimactic. Tugging it open, she struggled to even pull it to just a small enough body size to make her way through a person sized gap. Trying to pull it shut without being spotted, she almost got to hear the door clicked shut before a hand reached in and the door was being ripped open. Multiple soldiers were on the other side, some even ripping Carmen out by her messy black hair or her arm. She was tossed to the ground, kicking and screaming harder then she did when she was dragged away. 

She was pinned shortly after by the man with a scratchy chalkboard voice. She could hear Blaine in the distance, her older brother, shouting. Orders maybe? Carmen couldn't tell, but something wasn't right. This was all very wrong.


	13. Pinned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> blood and water were never a good combination

Carmen couldn’t toss the weight off, her feet weren’t hook right under his (or maybe she was doing this wrong) and Chalkboard had slammed her face into the ground as she spit at him. Fuck, what had she done? Her mother would be furious. Her eyes caught a glimpse of fine leather boots, and there was no mistaking it now.

This was Blaine.

“Now gentlemen, I know you’re all very angry, but I promised you all had you just waited, I could have gotten us here without all the added hassle. Even opened that door for you, if you’d have liked.” His voice carried a sense of refinement, even though he knew the state of everything now. “Soon they’ll be nothing left for us to even govern. We’ll be left with these books and a broken down town.” He tutted, and Carmen could feel those cold eyes staring down at her.

He was a traitor?

“Look what you’ve all done to my poor, sweet sister. Surely she did nothing to actually deserve this, did she? I told you, certain family members were off limits.” Was Blaine really trying to scold the man who ransacked the village?

“Yeah, where the fuck were you?” Chalkboard hissed. “We were suppose to do this together, we had a _ date! _ You? Nowhere to be found, so yeah, we hadda do it ourselves.” His grip tightened as Carmen began to squirm under him, trying to get her head up enough to look at her brother.

“I was handling something. There were a group of returning knights that I spotted on my way back, so we of course had to deal with them. It left quite a nasty mark on me, I’ll have you know. I was wearing a cotton shirt too, and it just soaked in and stained the darn thing.” Blaine sighed, waving a hand in front of his face. “Just a village fool got away. We should make sure to hurry up and get what you came for, because they’ll be no settling down now.” He warned.

“Alexander..” Carmen whispered. Yes, this was great! He’d have to go find the church! They’d have to help! They always did everything right by the church, there was no reason to fault them for anything now. 

Surely murder without cause was viable enough to have these fools slaughtered where they stood, wasn’t it?

“What was that, my little dove?” Blaine asked, pulling Chalkboard off her. “Come, stand, let’s get you off that terrible floor..” He hummed in disapproval. “My poor, poor sister..” Blaine looked her up and down, the blue fur coat with such elegant designs not the slightest bit damaged. Like he got dress for some big event.

Never would Carmen ever suspect her perfect brother would end up betraying them all, and the whole family. “What the hell is all this?!” Carmen shrieked. “Your helping them?” 

“Please, indoor voices. You have a tendency to have too much emotion in your voice. You should really work on it, you know. Monotone, like mother’s, if you preferred.” 

“Bite me! What the hell are you planning?” She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt with her one good arm, grip and nails ripping out bits of the genuine fur. He looked at her displeased, but never said a word on it. He simply stared down at her for a long while before Blaine decided it was time to speak.

“I never said you could touch me.” He ripped the shackles down, her hands following with the tug and force as they went down with him A cry escaped her as she tried to pull away. 

“Stop it, you’re hurting me! My arm! Blaine!” She choked out, trying to stumble away as she noticed radicals already filing into the now unlocked vault room. “They’re going in! You have to stop them!” Carmen tried to switch up her routine into pleading. Maybe that would just… work better. 

  
“Hurting you is the very least of my concerns. Now,” he said lowly, “I have to make an example out of you, and I hope dearly you won’t mind.” Blaine smiled, though it sent chills down her spine as he pushed her against the wall near the door roughly, crowding in on her.

His hands wrapped around her throat as his facial expression turned dark.

**Author's Note:**

> probably not canon, who the heck knows. this has been fun to write though.


End file.
